Geology
– it is the science that examines the Earth, its form and composition, and the
changes it has undergone and is undergoing (1) . It is
included in the vast world of Earth Science, together with oceanography,
meteorology, and astronomy.
Art
– it is the use of skill and imagination in the creation of objects, environments,
or experiences that can be shared with others (2). It is usually
linked to the word creative and imagination.
Now, why link these two
together? There are a lot of fields of study that we think are not related to
art. Economics, mathematics, accounting, nursing, education, chemistry, geology
– these are just some of the sciences that most of us think are not related to
art at all. But I think I beg to differ. Art has influenced the world in a
whole different way, and has affected us in ways we don’t notice in our
everyday lives. And now, we shall see how the world of geology has been
affected by art, and how art has affected geology as well.
Let’s first talk about
how the world of art has affected the completely different world of geology.
Looking back through the evolution of humans, we can say that a lot has
improved in our race. Back then, where humans lived in caves, ate raw food, and
didn’t have much to wear, we would think that how can humans think of ‘art’ that
time if there wasn’t much development in their livelihood? We know that during
those times, caves were their main sources of shelter for it provided them with
safety and protection from the dangers and threats that may be lurking outside.
And we have come to know of this fact, not just because we have found early
human remains in these caves, but we have found the things that they have left
behind, such as their stone tools and their cave paintings/drawings. Their
first canvass was the very walls of their shelter. And what might they be
drawing or painting about but the world they live in. Their subject can be the animals
they kill, the fellow humans they are with, the things they do every day, or
the environment they see. And not just this, but they also learned the art of
sculpting. Who would think that at that time, they have learned the skill of
carving stone? Although they used this skill for their advantage such as
killing animals for food, or for protection against predators, this might have
been the breakthrough in sculpture-making. And these stones, and even the animal
blood that came from the creatures they have killed, marked the first ‘pen’ and
‘ink’ in that time. To think that a single stone or a cave made out of
limestone can be some of the ingredients into the making of what we now call as
art.
Using such simple
things when the world hasn’t been a complicated to live in, humans have learned
to be resourceful, and have learned the nature of art, without them even
knowing that it was already considered art. As humans have developed through
time, art also came to a new level, and have also undergone developments, too.
The intellectual, abstract and logical thinking of the human brain has
advanced, and so is what the product they have made out of it.
In my years of studying
geology, I have learned the importance of art in this science. We do a lot of
drawings, colouring, and sketching, and we use our imagination a lot, since
there are studies that are hard to interpret because most of the things that we
study are beneath the earth’s surface. Let me show you some of the things that
I have encountered in geology that I consider as art.
In the field, we see a lot
of outcrops that include the rock formations that we are studying. And most
people would think that it’s just a piece of land, or it’s just plain rock. But
I think it can be considered as art. When I was introduced deeper into geology
and saw the kind of outcrops that we can see in the field, I was amazed that
the earth can create such beauty under a vast length of time of around hundreds
of thousands of years. Its preservation was remarkable, and these things were
keys to understanding more about what goes on beneath the Earth.
Figure 1 Chevron Folds
Figure 2 Bedding planes
Figure 3 Columnar jointing of basalt
In
the pictures above, you can see art in geologic outcrops. There are different
lines, curves, shapes, colors, and relief present in each one of them. And
these aren’t photoshopped, which make it more interesting.
From the outcrops we study, we
usually take rock samples that are necessary for our work. Since we can’t bring
home the outcrop, might as well bring something that would be able to represent
it. In most of the rock samples we get, there are minerals that are included in
them. Minerals are naturally occurring, inorganic, homogenous solids that have
a definite composition and an ordered internal structure. This ordered internal
structure allows them to occur into shapes and forms. They also occur in
certain colors due to their composition.
Figure 4 Agate
Figure 5 Peacock Ore a.k.a. Bornite
Figure 6 Gypsum Desert Rose
It is important for geologists to
study about fossils because it is essential in interpreting past environments.
They also are good indicators of time because they can be sources of carbon
that can be used in dating. They come in different shapes and in a wide range
of sizes. It is rare to see very well preserved specimens, especially of those
creatures that are soft-bodied and have no hard parts that can be preserved. They
are usually preserved in mudstones. You can see that they look like they were
sculpted or carved into the stone, but they are naturally preserved in that
manner. Alterations might cause them to be replaced by minerals in some of the
hollow spaces, such as the one of the ammonite figure shown.
Figure 7 Trilobite fossil
Figure 8 Sea star fossil
Figure 9 Ammonite fossil
From macro, we come down to the
micro. Art doesn’t have to be big and visible to the naked eye. It doesn’t mean
that if they’re small, we should neglect them. When I took up some of the
higher geology subjects during my third year, we started using the microscope.
And to my surprise I was able to see a whole different side of the rocks that
we see in the outcrops. They appear so much different, and you can see them up
to 400 times their size. In our petrographic microscopes, you can see them
under plane polarized light or cross polars. It is where the light is altered
in such a way that they would exhibit different properties, depending on which
mineral it is. Fossils can also be found in these thin sections. These fossils
are usually microogranisms such as plankton and foraminiferas. Corals can also
be found and made into thin sections and can produce beautiful images.
Figure 10 Volcanic sand grain (top –
plane polars; bottom – cross polars)
Figure 11 Thin section of a coral
Figure 12 Thin section of a glass fiber
Figure 13 Sand under a microscope
showing foraminifera and other fossils
And from the micro, we go to the
other things that we geologists can consider or can represent as art. In our
institute, National Institute of Geological Sciences, there are a lot of maps
all around the building, framed and displayed on the walls. With those, you
could see combination of colors, lines, and representations that help us
interpret data of a specific region of study. Besides maps, there are also other
diagrams as well, such as busk and kink method diagrams, rose diagrams, and
geologic sections. These help us interpret data as well. And just like the
maps, they also use different lines, shapes and colors. Although they look so
academic, I think they can still be considered as art because of the use of
these aspects and the use of imagination and representation.
Figure 14 A geologic cross section
Figure 15 A geologic map
Figure 16 Busk and Kink method diagram
Figure 17 A rose diagram
Figure 18 A stratigraphic cross section
After showing these images of our
so-called art in the world of geology, what is unique with them? What makes
them different from the other pieces of art from other fields? Well, they are
actually pretty diverse. They can be considered abstract. Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which
may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world
(3) . For someone who doesn’t really know much of geology, he/she
would think that a thin section image would be an abstract image of lines,
colors and shapes combined together. Another one is that they can be considered
as realistic. The fossil specimens found and used by geologists are creatures
that were living in the past, and they represent something that was real. And
lastly, the one that I like about art in geology is that there’s always a story
behind each and every one of them. Outcrops tell us what was the environment in
that place before, and what happened after that. Rocks, sediments and thin
sections tell us how it formed by examining their properties and structures.
Fossils tell us when they lived in this world, and what environment they were
living in. Diagrams such as maps and cross sections provide us with information
in helping us interpret what is in a specific area, and what can lie underneath
its surface.
Art has affected us geologists in numerous ways. It has
helped and aided us in interpreting information that is important for our
studies. It is useful to learn how to draw and sketch whenever cameras are not
available. These artistic places and objects are the things that make geology
possible and continuously interesting. There is always a story behind
everything that we see around us.
Art can be very flexible and diverse. It doesn’t confine
itself to a single area of study, but is applicable to almost anything. With the
things that I have said earlier, I have presented to you the connection of the two
different worlds of art and geology. As a student, I am proud to have realized
the presence of art in my field of study. I, myself, am really interested in
art ever since I was a kid, and to find that it actually exists in geology
makes me even happy to be studying it now.
References:
(1)
Earth Science 13th
Edition by Tarbuck, Lutgens, Tasa
(2) Brittanica Online http://www.brittanica.com
(3) Visual Thinking by Rudolph Arnheim
(http://www.wikipedia.com)
Geology and Art: Humans and the Earth
Figures
3
- http://www.gsi.ie/NR/rdonlyres/A6A24F3B-7145-42A9-B4ED-0DE4D69B874C/0/P225386_giants_causeway.jpg